


A Mother's Love

by commandershakarian



Series: Dragon Age one shots [25]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Clan Lavellan - Freeform, Dalish, Dalish Language, Elves, F/M, Fluff, M/M, Meren Lavellan, Multi, Polyamory, commissions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-11
Updated: 2016-06-11
Packaged: 2018-07-14 10:28:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7167434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/commandershakarian/pseuds/commandershakarian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Meren Lavellan brings the men she loves to visit her clan in hopes of introducing them to her Keeper. A commissioned work for momopeachchild.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Mother's Love

**Author's Note:**

  * For [momopeachchild](https://archiveofourown.org/users/momopeachchild/gifts).



Meren Lavellan shivered, pulling her fur-lined cloak tighter around her shoulders. The Amaranthine Ocean stretched to the horizon before her, the slight wind creating waves on its indigo surface. It had been too long since she’d seen the ocean, too long since she’d roamed these forests with her clan. Wycome was serene and peaceful. The calls of the birds above brought a smile to her lips. Although she’d spent more time away from Clan Lavellan than she’d wanted, to be able to see her friends, her Keeper, and the halla that her clan cared for again stirred happiness within.

There was only one thing that might cause some concern with the Keeper.

Meren heard the footsteps long before the person responsible for them appeared beside her. One of the perks of being an elf, she supposed. Her hearing was better than the humans she’d met over the years. She wasn’t completely sure if the advanced hearing was a characteristic of the elves or resulted from the fact that her people lived in forests more often than not and had to adapt to the dangers that life brought about. Whatever it was, she was grateful for the advantage.

Ice-blue eyes met hers when she turned. “Am I interrupting, my lady?”

The rough voice only widened her smile and shaking her head, she held the hand without the anchor out to him. As much as she disliked this ‘my lady’ business, she loved the man in front of her more. “I was hoping for company, actually. Stay?”

He made an approving noise deep in his throat and took her hand without hesitation. Blackwall... no-  _ Thom Rainier _ ... gazed out across the horizon with her as the wind caught some leaves underfoot, tossing them into miniature tornadoes of gold and crimson. His thumb ran across her skin gently, the calluses on his fingers tickling.

Meren released a quiet sigh and closed her eyes. The wind whipped her short ebony hair against her cheeks, stinging the sensitive skin there, but it wasn’t unpleasant. She could sense Thom shifting closer to her and she had to fight the smile that threatened to reappear.

“Is everything alright?” The concern in his voice was sincere. 

Squeezing his hand in reassurance, she nodded. “Of course. I’m wondering how to approach the subject of…  _ us _ … with the Keeper.”

Thom chuckled, bringing her hand to his mouth and pressing small kisses upon her knuckles. “Always a worrier, my lady?”

The blue of her irises were barely discernable through the slits her eyes had become. “ _ Vhenan _ , this is no laughing matter. The Keeper-”

“Will understand if you just be honest about it, my love.” The smile he spoke with upon his face calmed her fears a bit. “And I will be beside you the entire time. There is nothing to worry about.”

“But Bull-”

“I will speak to the Iron Bull.” Thom pressed another kiss to her knuckles before releasing her hand. “We should pull up camp and be on our way before the day gets away from us.”

Meren nodded, knowing that they had to head deeper into the woodlands to find Clan Lavellan. Soon, they would come upon the aravels that had once been hers. Soon, she would be home. 

When Meren arrived at the encampment, she noticed how everything was as she’d left it over a year before. The aravels stood in the same places. Goods that would go for trading in human cities were loaded on a cart. One of the halla would pull it when the time came to travel. A lot had happened since she’d left, but Meren also realized that much had stayed the same. There was a lot she missed about being with her clan and seeing it the same as it was made her long for the days when she wasn’t the Inquisitor. She knew that she couldn’t stay, however, and that reality bothered her more than she cared to admit.

From the corner of her eye, she could see  _ Hahren _ Feydor sitting at the fire circle, speaking in the Dalish dialect to the group of children who had gathered at his feet. His long silver hair was pulled back into a braid. The end brushed the middle of his back when he tossed his hands up and roared to drive home whatever moment in his story he’d reached, eliciting shrieks from the young ones. Meren laughed quietly, remembering the time when she was their age, enjoying Feydor’s elaborate and impossible tales.

A pair of hunters lead Meren and her friends to the Keeper, an elderly elven mage who cared for Clan Lavellan. She looked like the Inquisitor remembered exactly. Except for the gray in her hair that had grown to considerable amounts, it was almost as if she hadn’t aged a day. However, knowing the woman’s true age, Meren was surprised that she hadn’t gone gray earlier.

Upon seeing the Inquisitor, the Keeper approached, arms opened wide for an embrace. Meren held the older woman close, relishing the scent of elfroot and spindleweed, two herbs that always reminded her of Deshanna.

“ _ Andaran atish’an, da'len _ .” The familiar sound of Meren’s native tongue was welcoming, more so than any words her Keeper could speak. Anything would sound beautiful to her in their language. 

She’d missed speaking elvish to another of her kind. She and Solas had conversed many times in elvish before he had disappeared. If she was being honest with herself, she wished he was still at Skyhold... even if he did dislike many things about the Dalish. He was, at the very least, a connection to those she couldn’t speak with regularly. It had been enough at the time. 

The embrace lasted a short moment and when the pair had finally parted, a smile was upon the elder’s face. “You’re looking well, child. It seems that the Creators have smiled fondly upon you.”

“You as well, Keeper.” Taking a step away from her old friend to make room for her new ones, Meren waved the Iron Bull and Thom forward, trying to quell the nerves that sprang up at their close proximity to her former mentor. “I’d like you to meet my friends, Thom Rainier and the Iron Bull.”

“Ma’am.” Thom bowed at the waist respectfully, gaining a raised eyebrow in response. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”

“A pleasure? I’m sure you believe that, but I am an old woman,  _ lethallin _ . My presence is lacking lately these days, I’m afraid.” The Keeper said, bowing her head towards him despite her words. Her pale eyes found the imposing form of the Iron Bull, standing heads taller than the rest. “You have quite the name.  _ The Iron Bull _ . It fits.”

“Thank you… uh, what do I call you?” The Iron Bull’s confusion was palpable and Meren realized she hadn’t prepared for this moment.

“Deshanna is fine, child. Now, if you gentlemen don’t mind, I would like to speak with my First alone for a moment.” The tone of the Keeper’s voice would allow no argument.

Both human and qunari nodded their understanding and left the Inquisitor, each exploring the camp of his own volition. Once they were out of earshot, Meren took the Keeper’s hand, her presence comforting in a way a parent’s presence can comfort a child. She had much to say to her former Keeper.

“I’ve done many things,  _ Hahren _ . Things you would never believe. I’ve walked physically through the what humans call the Fade. I have spoken with men who would be gods. I have defeated a great Darkspawn magister and yet, all I wanted was to return here.” Meeting her mentor’s gaze, a smile appeared on her lips. “To return home.”

“I am honored to know the clan has been on your mind and in your heart,  _ da’len _ .” Deshanna nodded briefly to acknowledge Meren’s smile before turning gray eyes on the Iron Bull. He was lifting a handful of young children without issue while they dangled from his arms. Their giggles echoed through the camp and the Keeper shook her head, amused at the sight. “However, as much as you may have missed the clan, it seems that there is someone for you to miss from your Inquisition, as well.”

Meren blushed, surprised that the Keeper could read her so easily. “Is it that obvious?”

Deshanna laughed, her voice like singing birds. “No,  _ da’len _ . I know you. And my First wouldn’t bring anyone into our camp without first having a deep affection for them. He is…” She trailed off and observed the Qunari mercenary in silence, leaving Meren slightly nervous at her appraisal. She didn’t  _ need _ the Keeper’s approval of Bull, or of Thom, but she did respect what the old woman thought. “He is strong and brave, I can tell that much by sight. He treats you well?”

“Of course.”

Deshanna nodded, accepting Meren’s immediate response as fact. “He is an admirable choice.”

Meren cleared her throat, feeling blush creeping up her cheeks as she attempted to word her thoughts. “What about Thom?”

“What about him, child?” The Keeper raised her eyebrow at the question and turned to face the Inquisitor, not understanding what she was asking. When Meren’s eyes widened, Deshanna’s did the same. “You mean? All three of you?”

“Yes,  _ hahren _ .”

The Keeper made a surprised noise in her throat and her eyes roamed the clearing for Thom, who was busy whittling a halla out of wood for another group of children. Deshanna seemed to process this in the span of a few seconds before laughing, squeezing Meren’s hand lightly. “Do whatever your heart says is right for you, child. You have my support no matter what. You will always have my love.”

Meren felt the tears welling up in her eyes. She wiped them away quickly before pulling the only mother she had ever known into a hug. “ _ Ma serannas, hahren _ .”

“ _ Ar lath ma, da’len.” _


End file.
